Marco DeHaro

Cast of Characters

(Click photo to enlarge.)

Marco Antonio Haro Portillo, who went by the name Marco DeHaro, was Pablo Acosta's chief enforcer and was the gunman who started a drug war in Ojinaga by killing the son of Fermin Arevalo. This photo was taken shortly after DeHaro's arrest in Odessa, Texas, on November 20, 1985, on cocaine, marijuana and heroin trafficking
charges. (Photo courtesy of the Ector County Sheriff's Department)

Marco DeHaro

Pablo Acosta's chief enforcer, Marco DeHaro had a penchant for "head shots" and became known as El Carnicero de Ojinaga—the Butcher of Ojinaga-for his many alleged killings. His shooting of the sons of a rival drug trafficker led to a war of attrition between the two factions and a reign of narco-terror in Ojinaga. Assassination attempts on Acosta's life in downtown Ojinaga and the final OK-Corral shoot out that left his chief rival dead are described in detail in the book.

Typical of the drug traffickers, Marco DeHaro carried Mexican federal police and military credentials and reputedly had worked as an agent for Mexico's Interpol. He was eventually arrested in the United States while preparing to receive a half-ton shipment of cocaine.